Chennai : Chennai's drivers are largely dissatisfied with road surface quality, parking facilities and traffic management in the city, according to a recent survey conducted in six Indian cities.

About 120 Chennai drivers said two major factors that made driving unpleasant were poor roads and traffic blocks. Two-wheeler drivers were more dissatisfied than those of four-wheelers. The drivers also criticised the pollution levels and parking facilities.

Synovate, an international market research agency, conducted the poll for CNBC TV- 18's annual automobile awards.

720 respondents

About 720 respondents were covered in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai.

Delhi and Ahmedabad were rated the best cities to drive in for the road quality and efficient traffic management.

In Delhi, 63 per cent of respondents were happy with their roads on all parameters, whereas in Chennai, only 10 per cent expressed an overall satisfaction with the city's roads.

Motorists in Kolkata and Mumbai were also unhappy with their driving experience. Bangalore finished bottom with the drivers rating their city very poor in traffic management.

Respondents for the study were in the age group of 18 - 45. Both owners and drivers were interviewed.

Urban planning experts call for a better public transport system to bring down congestion on roads.

High-capacity buses that can ply on separate lanes and an integrated bus-rail system must be introduced, says M.G. Devasahayam, trustee of SUSTAIN, a non-governmental organisation working for sustainable solutions to civic problems.

Optimum use must be made of road space by preventing encroachments and illegal parking, he says.

Long distances

S. Janakarajan, Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, says that the mushrooming of residential colonies in the suburbs will mean that more people travel long distances to work.

"If roads are congested when a person commutes from a suburb to the city for work, the hassle he has to go through reduces overall productivity. This can mean a loss of several billion rupees at the national level," he says.

The academic only reflects a global-level consensus on making roads cleaner, safer and easier to travel, when he says public transport must be eco-friendly because it can carry more people using less road space and producing much less carbon emissions per person.

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